BY Joyce Jiang
At the detective agency, the dim light and almost tangible quietness accompanied the three of them. Mr. Wade was sitting in his desk while scanning through the cluttered crime scene photos and documents. Under the light of his lamp, his slim hands were holding on to pictures of Earl and Luca’s corpse side by side. Slightly leaning forward, Mr. Wade’s body cast a shadow on the creased balls of notes lying on his desk. He then flipped through a few documents and picked up his pen as if an idea emerged in his mind. However, his face turned sullen afterward. He leaned back on his chair and yawned wearily, which damped his sour eyes.
Mr. Wade lived together with Hines and Larsen in the detective agency tonight for convenience. Hines sat in his couch doing piles of homework and readings for the next day’s class. He pushed his glasses as it reflected a tint of light. Hine’s incisive and composed eyes shifted its attention on Mr. Wade.
Hines spoke in a calm tone, “After I graduate from college…should I continue my studies as a Forensic Pathologist or start working as an investigator?”
“None of them. You stay with me and be my good old assistant forever. Besides, our detective agency is like the most professional and elite organization,” Mr. Wade teased as he looked at the packed working space, cracking wallpaper, and the only two employees.
“Well, don’t mind these details,” Mr. Wade added in a playful tone.
“Yeah right,” Hines replied sarcastically.
The deliberate and detached look that he puts on rarely had an expression with a tint of warmth.
Meanwhile, the sounds of snoring came from Larsen’s bedroom inside. The door was not completely closed and a strip of light poured through the gap on to his cheek. Huddling in his soft blankets, he was as if momentarily relieved from all the mess that happened this day.
“Larsen’s already asleep,” Hines mentioned.
“He’s tired and not that used to the investigations yet. But his condition is still stronger than others who have never been in this profession. Since he is a doctor, he could handle the gory situations better,” Mr. Wade suggested as he crossed his fingers and stretched his arms, “By the way, he told me he needed to go to his clinic tomorrow to treat a few patients. Looks like everyone is quite busy.”
Hines lightly nodded and continued studying. At the meantime, Mr. Wade sat up straight in his desk as his eyes were under extreme focus. They seemed calculating with a daunting gleam. As he reorganized the evidence, his gestures were completely unperturbed as if he had already outguessed everything. His lips curved to his defiant smile, however, this time it had a gloom of hesitation. He opened up his booklet with a list of suspects and notes on them, frowning slightly with a cryptic gaze.
Closing his booklet and putting it back in his pocket, Mr. Wade thought, “All the victims are from that day’s dinner. According to my assumptions, there would not be any further victims. Yet, now is too early to disclose everything. The game … has just started.”
On the late afternoon of the following day, three of them gathered at the detective agency with the police officer- Anthony. They decided to investigate Earl, the first victim’s house. This plan was delayed due to the discovery of the second victim (Lucas) in the car. As a result, Anthony was more discreet this time, bringing all of his investigation team. They stopped at a dull three-floored house. The size was modest but still spacious for only one resident. As Mr. Wade strolled along the sidewalk, almost withered flowers were planted aside while a scent of moistened dirt emanated from it.
The investigation team inspected for purchase records and records of calls and messages on other devices. They also checked if he made any notes or calendar markings of suspicious contacts with a suspect. Anthony wore his gloves and scavenged for signs of a second person’s entry in this house. However, the results were undesiring. Finding not many traces, they still added two more people to their list of suspects. According to records of texting, calling, and other testimonies, they have found that Oliver and Mason (Earl’s colleagues) have the most contact with him long-termly. Furthermore, there was more suspicion on Mr. Blackwell (boss of the medical organization) and Bedford Vance (office manager) since they also met with Earl many times outside the company.
“It feels like we have a ton of suspects and limited clues for the investigation to make progress,” Larson sighed in frustration.
However, Mr. Wade did not respond. The corner of his lips rose subtly as he glanced at Larsen
in a scheming and composed manner.
“So then let’s straighten out these two cases to make things more clear,” Hines suggested.
“Initially, the murderer uses that dinner to deceive us in believing Earl (the first victim)’s death was caused by the teacup,” Mr. Wade followed up, wandering around the house with his hands in his pocket.
“What could be the purpose?” Anthony asked as his forehead furrowed in confusion.
“It must be to divert the suspicion of murder on the people present at that table. If we believed Earl was actually poisoned by the teacup, we would naturally infer someone at that dinner used a certain method to pass him the cup with arsenic,” Larsen answered.
“However, Mr. Wade then found signs of long-term arsenic poisoning before Earl had contact with the cup. Therefore, the conspicuous arsenic we found in the sink was intentionally added afterward. The purpose might be the same as you said. Though, what method does the murderer use to poison him long-termly? To let Earl consume poison him on a common basis, does that indicate the murderer is someone who has frequent contact with him?” Hines added on and questioned insightfully.
“If we could find out the answers of those questions, our investigation would achieve further progress. Still, if the murder is trying to direct the suspicion to the suspects at the dinner table, does that imply he or she is actually not present there?” Larsen questioned attentively as his thinking gets more used to everyone’s pace.
“That’s a good question,” Mr. Wade responded, stopping his footsteps at a wooden shelve crammed with medicine, “It’s hard to say. Even if the murderer is at that dinner, he or she could still direct the suspicion there just to create more suspects and obfuscate the case. The murderer might be confident, or shall I say arrogant. Even though the murderer is present, he or she is positive to not get suspected. Yet, he or she is definitely trying to conceal the true murder method that the murderer used.”
“In other words, we are still unassertive about whether the murderer is present at the dinner table or not,” Hines sighed in discontent.
“However, from the location where the second victim was placed, we could tell that the murderer was good at predicting our actions,” Mr. Wade brought up as he wore his crinkling gloves and examined the desk in the room.
“But I thought only we three know… wait… the phone call…” Hines stuttered as if he suddenly grasped something in his mind.
His eyes opened wide while a threatening feeling tingled behind his back. Surprisingly, Hines’s cold and nonchalant expression had a slight tint of anxiety. Turning around abruptly, he glared askance at the man behind,
“Anthony…” Hines mumbled as skepticism gushed from his dark eyes.
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